1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an array substrate, a display device having the array substrate, and a method thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to an array substrate capable of preventing problems induced by static electricity, a display device having the array substrate, and a method of protecting a display area of a display device from static electricity.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a liquid crystal display (“LCD”) apparatus includes an LCD panel and a driving device driving the LCD panel. The LCD panel includes an array substrate, an opposite substrate facing the array substrate, and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the array substrate and the opposite substrate.
The array substrate includes gate lines, data lines, and thin-film transistors (“TFTs”) connected to one of the gate lines and one of the data lines, respectively. As the array substrate includes metal patterns having higher degrees of integration, such as an amorphous silicon gate (“ASG”) or a chip-on-glass (“COG”), many problems are induced by static electricity.
When manufacturing the array substrate and the LCD panel, the electrostatic charges generated thereon are applied to the metal patterns formed on the array substrate. The electrostatic charges cause problems such as a short circuit, a disconnection of wiring patterns, TFT damage, etc.